Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions

Big Fish

• Genre: Fiction; magical realism, humor
• Originally Published: 1998
• Reading Level/Interest: College/Adult
• Structure/Length: 3 parts; approx. 196 pages; approx. 5 hours, 23 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: As Edward Bloom lies dying, his son William reviews the fantastic, larger-than-life tales Edward has always told and tries to determine the truth about his father’s life.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Profanity; smoking and drinking; nudity

Daniel Wallace, Author

• Bio: Born 1959 in Birmingham, Alabama; left college to work in Japan for his father’s company, then decided to study writing; was influenced by Kurt Vonnegut, among others; wrote five unpublished novels before selling Big Fish to a publisher; sets his books in Alabama and the South; published a children’s book he wrote and illustrated, The Cat’s Pajamas, in 2014; Big Fish was adapted into a motion picture directed by Tim Burton; winner of Harper Lee Award for lifetime achievement in 2019; lives with his wife in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he teaches creative writing at UNC
• Other Works: Ray in Reverse (2000); The Watermelon King (2003); The Kings and Queens of Roam (2013); Extraordinary Adventures (2017)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• The Role of Storytelling
• Immortality
• Classical and Personal Mythology

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will: